Saturday, 23 January 2010

Cube were hosting the 50 years of Alan Fletcher, and the preview to this exhibition was Thursday. Taking over two years for the design museum to allow the exhibition to come to Manchester, it was well worth it.Mr Peter Saville introduced the event and gave a short talk about his impression and experience of working with such an incredible designer.

Mr Peter Saville was a great inspiration and allowed for the small group of D&AD peers with mouths hanging on every word to have a picture with him.

The exhibition was too much to take in, there was soooo much inspirational work that another visit may only reach the surface on how good it is. He was a magnificent designer and has done some incredible work. One can only hope to be that good!

We ended up in font bar to fully take in and celebrate hand-in, and meeting the fabulous Peter Saville. A truly great night...

I nearly forgot to post the flipbooks that I used for Silence part 1&2.The images were part of my research and experimentation to develop the project. It has been great to do something with them, making them interactive and objects that you can make move/speak is highly effective.

The images were also used to create an experimentation into stop frame animation.As I wanted to make my mouth shapes move, this felt like an appropriate method and was a great introduction to the software. As it is give and take, it took no time at all to understand the process of photo - move - photo - move etc etc.

But it has been great to make them move, in theory I would have liked to have used after effects but due to time management this was not viable.

It is great to know that 32.22222222 % has been handed in and after the 1st Feb this will go up to 50 % of our final third year. Scary but realistic thoughts are going through my head...with just under 15 weeks to go it has been a relief to close the chapter of our first term and start a new one.

One can only hope that next term will be just as good?!To have more memories to share and enjoy our time now.

Final imagery for the 'fake' flash mob event that I have designed.Along with the poster/flyer that I designed to promote the event, I also wanted it to be available on social networking sites like, facebook and bebo.

In order to promote the event it would be placed in university buildings, and areas that would be suitable for young people e.g. The Library, Font Bar, the Student Union, Footage and other social places.

Here is an a facebook group that I created in preparation for the event, so far I have more than 50 members who would be willing to join in.

The actual campaign has had to be cancelled due to recent weather conditions, unfortunately this was out of my control and feel that this is not yet complete. The final image for DontPanic that I wanted was to be a shot based on the moment the balloons were released.Potentially this could be handed in with the next deadline, as an extra project.

The development has been worth it, my previous posters seem a million miles away from this project as it it more beneficial to the target audience. It is personal, wanting an emotional response and a willingness to be involved of something better, not afraid that this moment will not be forever...

This is the final poster that I have designed for the campaign, it incorporates all the essential messages of how how you can be mis-heard or mis-interpreted and the effect that it can cause.

The posters would have the following taglines:

"It's Thursday or I'm thirsty"

"Biscuits or Big kiss"

"I love you or Elephant poo"

"Alzheimers or Old timers"

Each design would house the individual shape to that word, allowing each poster to be read easily and clearly.

The clinical approach is suitable for the on-print media of this campaign, making it effective to the visual style.

As I have been in contact with The Deaf Centre Manchester, I took the final poster along not only to get their opinion but hoping that they would allow me to leave it up so that members of the public could see the campaign. They were very happy to get involved and were pleased with the final outcome I had produced.

Hopefully it will begin to make a significant difference to those who suffer from deafness and non-deaf members of the public who are not aware.

I have found the personal project very thrilling and enjoyed every minute of it. Being in control of the development and the outcome has been an essential skill that I think has taken this campaign further.

As I am promoting the awareness of deafness, my message is this:"With 1 in 7 being deaf or hard of hearing, make sure you're not misunderstoodIn order to improve your face to face communication, follow these si ple steps and you will be more easily understood: speak directly to your audience, pronounce words clearly and ensure your face and particularly lips are visible."

For the hand in I thought of several ways to promote the campaign, as my designs are originally posters and would be displayed where a large demographic of society would go e.g. doctors, dentists, reception desks, transport stations etc. I further developed this into a direct mail/ postcard promotion, an Interactive billboard advert and an online display on websites including NHS etc.

The direct mail/ postcard promotion would be suitable for those who cannot get out or may be restricted by a disability. They would also be placed in less commercial environments e.g. bars, pubs etc. The message is similar to the posters but with a less formal approach, I designed them so that they can be interactive and the viewer can touch the shape of the mouth.

As they would be essential to the promotion of deafness/ mis-interpretation I wanted them to be placed in various places within towns/cities. Sponsored by RNID, their importance is significant and should be recognised by many.

Posters in situ on trains and and well advertised spaces that would allow it to be accessible to everyone, the mouths are intriguing but with an important message.

Here is the interactive billboard display that would be a constant reel of mis-heard words/ sentences, highlighting the important of Lipreading and how it really can optimize communication:

This is the animation showing how it would work in situ.

Taking this further the online promotion would be featured on all major websites, social media networks and generally anywhere that a large percentage of society would visit.I designed it to animate on the NHS website:

This is the animation for the online promotion.It would flicker between the shapes/text and the final message, ensuring that viewers would pick up the clarity of what was being spoken.

I feel that I have chosen suitable media to promote this campaign. I have specifically chosen them to suit the needs and daily life of my viewers ensuring that the campaign will be noticed.As the more people that become aware will rate the success of how communication will be improved.

I now feel that taking my project from Silence part 1&2 has been very successful and there is a different appearance and visual style that makes this a cutting edge campaign. It is clean, not too educational but the purpose of the colours and delicacy suit the fragility of the mouth shapes and enhance their importance.

The actual mouth shapes have excelled my expectations, they have now become more defined and word like than previous designs. Still keeping their beauty that I find so intriguing.

It has been a great project to fully grasp and feel that I have actually achieved something. It has reached all potential goals set and more....it is effective, cutting edge with an actual purpose and meaning.

I previously had thought that I had finished Silence, but after talking to Hitch we came to a conclusion that the final A3 leaflet did not summarize all the research and experimental concluded whilst working on the project.

For the deadline I re-focused on what was the main element I wanted to show. Having spent many hours researching into Lipreading, I discovered there was limited material and this was all out dated thus a new approach and design would be most suitable.

I re-designed the previous A3 leaflet but with cutting edge visuals that would have a clean and simplistic approach. The new 12 page booklet would be home to an introduction into Lipreading, using the mouth shapes I created. I spent several hours...designing and finally printing onto sparkling white card for a pristine look, completing with a hand sewn finish.

I am now aware that this final outcome is much more visual that takes my design to the next level. It was incomplete previously and I am glad that I took the time out to develop and finish it properly and I am satisfied with the visual aesthetic.

Here are the final images and video that Sarah and myself worked on.After debating when to work on this extra project, it was decided that a full day would be more productive rather than a few hours spent here and there.

The actual idea was part of a strong conceptual campaign to promote the freedom of speech. Sarah and myself both had similar ideas as to what the final outcome should be like, we wanted to use guerrilla art in the environment and as we were not sticking to the brief literally this would be perfect for us.

We spent a full day breaking it down into "idea time", shopping for the essentials to make the installation art and a good 2 hours spent in the Chatham lift.I have found that on the spot ideas can come quickly and bouncing ideas off one another was helpful. As we were so close to deadline it was crucial that we get a concept and stick to it executing it well. It was also great to have a day off from the other various projects.

The final outcome is surprising. I am baffled by its creativity and the curiosity we had when installing it. I hope it has brought a voice to the other art and design students/staff that use the lift making them more aware and not afraid to speak out.

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Here is my response to the competition brief for DontPanic, on capturing the theme of resistance. Over the past few weeks I have been developing and creating a flash mobbing event to launch the "Big" release. As part of the event it is open to everyone, anyone who has a thought, an opinion or a message that they want to share and release.

The "BIG" release due to current weather conditions has had to post-poned to a later date, as I want the right conditions for capturing the moment when the balloons would be released.My idea is based on the joyous moment of remembering a childlike memory. Letting go of a balloon and watching it disappear, but disappear where...who would receive these message...God, no-one...whom? It is the reassurance that we all alike have issues or opinions on matters in present day. Whether that's about getting up in the morning, enduring more job-losses or personal feelings, share and celebrate now as this moment is not forever.

We do not know what will be in the future, but embrace now!Be part of something different.

If you want to join this event please see:FLASH MOB: the "BIG" release on facebook.

Tuesday, 12 January 2010

My Christmas present to my self this year was a wonderful brand new mac. I should have bought one many years ago but until recently I have actually needed one. It is the most beautiful thing, so clean and minimal and brilliant!

As part of the Flash Mobbing event I am faking, I have designed a poster/flyer that would be released in and around University. The event I am staging has taken a turn for the worse due to recent weather conditions, thus I am now not going to hold the event but still create the whole event. Including: viral, poster, flyer's, emails, facebook and texts showing the main aspects of the event e.g. when, where, date and time.

The posters below are what I have been working on over Christmas. I wanted them to include all the raw emotion of joy, assurance, hope and happiness. As my event is based on the human emotion of releasing the balloons, it symbolises a bold but child like approach. The balloons have become part of the image, getting the viewer more aware of the event I am staging.

My favourite design is this one: the landscape and balloon symbolises the in between level of landscape to sky. It is instigating this moment now, whilst being bold and stating all the information necessary. It also actually looks like and event poster which would be placed in and around student areas.

Here are several other various designs that I also could use if necessary.

There is the potential to develop these designs e.g. re-touching certain aspects.I really like the how the balloons are the main focus, however in a traditional flash mobbing the event would not be named, but for the purpose of my designs I am insisting it be on!

Liz and Mac advised that I re-consider my final designs for the launch of the kino4 promotion. My designs previously were mainly focusing on the concept, which may have been limiting the visual approach. My logo design was something that I thought was the strongest aspect, but when evaluating it recently, I figured that maybe it wasn't.

Over the festive period I decided to bite the bullet and give the re-design a go!Spending a mere day on the new designs I realised that over the past few months, dwelling on a design does me no good. Having a fresh and interesting approach has been the most effective role in the re-design.

The designs now have a new look. It is simplistic yet incorporating more of the focus between the film and poster, both are working in harmony with each other.The 'cut outs' in the image represent the main feature in the film, a snippet of what is to come.

I think visually they are much more on a higher standard than my previous designs, do not get me wrong I still value the initial designs but these are challenging the brief more so.

Tuesday, 5 January 2010

As part of my personal project I have decided to focus on a less educational aspect and more visual/graphical design to create a cutting edge awareness campaign that will make deaf and non-deaf people more aware of the difficulties deaf people face.As there is limited material available I want to re-introduce it back into society in a powerful and effective way to stop people in their tracks.

Here are a few from NFD Org, New Zealand. These campaigns are the most visual I have seen but focus on deafness more so than I was going too. My design will incorporate Lip Reading aswell, highlighting the difficulties deaf people face.

'Protect your hearing', highlighting Mp3 players can seriously damage your hearing. A copy of the Ipod design but with a serious tone. Very influencial to a younger audience.

Again, more facts out hearing damae. The posters quote the decibels of a large object compared to a household object e.g. passing train to a blow dryer.

These are my favourite, they are using text to demonstrate the difficulties deaf people face when trying to talk to someone e.g. turning your face while speaking and not speaking clearly.

Shouting also doesnt help a deaf person as it makes them feel uncomfortable.

My designs are going to use my original re-designed mouth shapes. These linear lines show the contours and movement of each shape. I have started to work on flash as a beginning idea was to make it into an interactive poster/billboard. The mouth shapes would tune in to people talking and replica what they were saying. Obviously society wouldnt be able to understand them, similar to the difficulties deaf people face. It is about turning the tables, putting deafness and lip reading first, making people more aware.